Not under the American flag

If you’re curious about the Todd and Sarah Palin decade-long involvement in the Alaska Independence Party, here’s a sampling from the AIP’s Web site:

Q: What is the Alaskan Independence Party?

A: An Alaskan political party whose members advocate a range of solutions to the conflicts between federal and local authority; from advocacy for state’s rights, through a return to territorial status, all the way to complete independence and nationhood status for Alaska.

The ultimate goal is for Alaska to be its own country as stated by its founder, Joe Vogler: “I’m an Alaskan, not an American. I’ve got no use for America or her damned institutions.”

The AIP’s motto is “ALASKA FIRST!”

In May 1993, Vogler disappeared under suspicious circumstances, just weeks before he was scheduled to give a speech to the United Nations on Alaskan independence, sponsored by the government of Iran. Convicted thief Manfried West confessed to having murdered Vogler the following year in what he described as an illegal plastic explosive sale gone bad.

Vogler was buried in Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada, fulfilling his wish that he not be buried under the American flag.